Everything you need to know for the 2024 Darwin and District Cricket Competition
Local stars, big hitting imports and a lust for premiership glory will make the 2024 Darwin and District men’s and women’s Cricket Competitions a must watch. Check out our club guide.
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Southern District have a chance to make it five premierships in six years in what is shaping up to be a strong 2024 Darwin and District Cricket Competition.
The Crocs once again got the better of major rivals Darwin in last year’s grand final to claim their third premiership in a row.
The remaining clubs haven’t stepped off the gas in the off-season either, and will be eager to make statements of their own.
Will the young guns of Nightcliff continue their trajectory? Will this be the year the likes of Tracy Village and PINT make their climb up the table?
All these questions and more will be revealed across the season, but for now we’ve had a look at the ins and outs of each club and how they could impact the season.
The women are also vying for glory with a swarm of new players taking up the game ahead of the season.
Waratah are in the hunt to reclaim their crown, while it’s Tracy Village who have to defend the trophy.
WOMEN’S RUNDOWN / MEN’S RUNDOWN
WOMEN
Darwin Cricket Club
Ladder position last season: 7th
Captain: Chloe Kerber
Captain’s comments:
“Our team was great last year, and there were great vibes throughout the club which have carried through to this year.
“We’ve lost a few of our lovely players. but we’ve been slowly building our numbers back up.
“We’ve got a ring-in from Adelaide and a few young girls coming through which is really great.
“So for Darwin at the moment, we are going to use this season as a building block and hopefully a confidence booster for a lot of our players.
“We’re here to have fun and compete, of course a premiership would be amazing but it’s important to us that we are nurturing girls and see them succeed.”
Nightcliff Cricket Club
Ladder position last season:2nd (lost in semi’s)
Captain: Ella Piccoli-Auckram
Captain’s comments:
“We’ve got good numbers this season and quite a fair few new faces,” Piccoli-Auckram said.
“So this year we are going to focus on having a bit of fun, trying to get some wins, but in saying that, just try and get women to enjoy and play the sport; we will see how the season goes.
“We are a team full of players who are new to cricket. We’re not too worried about the wins at the moment, it’s just nice to see out numbers increase.
“We’ve got some juniors but are looking to probably play mainly women, and are really keen for the season.”
Palmerston Cricket Club
Ladder position last season: 5th
Captain: Jennifer Sharma
Captain’s comments:
“This is going to be my second season playing, but for a lot of the girls it’ll actually be their first.
“We’ve got a bunch of ladies and junior girls who have joined us.
“Erin and Naomi are two of the juniors that were really exciting to watch last season and we’re excited to see them take it to another level.
“We also have a few new ladies who are softballers; they’ve got incredible arms and will be a great asset in the field.
“This season we are focused on growth, and being as competitive as we can while having fun.”
PINT Cricket Club
Ladder position last season: 6th
Captain: Amy Hetherington
Captain’s comments:
“We’ve got a team of people that just love playing cricket and are happy to have a go.
“A lot of them are new, and a lot of the others have played maybe three seasons max.
“What we lack in skill we make up for in enthusiasm; I’m happy to be the leader of a team that’s happy to have a crack.
“Narelle is an absolute gun, got a hattrick last season
“Some of of younger players Jordy, Amy and Tali, and watch out for Rachel who’s been working really hard on her batting.”
Southern Districts Cricket Club (Salties/Freshies)
Ladder position last season: 4th (lost in semi’s)
Captain(s): Jennifer Wilton (Salties), Andrea Ellis (Freshies)
Captain(s) comments:
Wilton: “Recruitment is how we’ve been able to get two teams.
“We’ve not had a day-off since the outdoor season ended.
“We’ve all been playing indoor together during the offseason.
“We haven’t stopped and we’ve just kept working.
“We have everybody from last year except for one who is out with an injury and another who’s gone to WA.
“Hannah Armstroong is definitely going to be one to watch, she’s a bit of a gun and another junior Caitlyn, she’s got the height and is looking like she’ll be a good bowler.”
Ellis: “I believe that the success of our national team and the WBBL has also played a huge part in why there are so many new players; all the young girls are watching and it’s sparked their intrest.
“We just want to have fun.
“The whole idea for us at the moment is growth.
“Get everyone to improve on their game while enjoying the game.”
Tracy Village Cricket Club
Finish last season: Premiers
Captain: Frankie Ennor
Captain’s comments:
“We’ve had some new players come in but a lot of old faces have come back as well, and I think winning a flag always helps with that.
“Chris Jones is one who’s back who is an award winning batter in previous years.
“We will have some juniors who will filter in and out of the side for us as the comp goes on, and I’m excited to see them all improve with more senior experience under their belts.
“A couple of them have come back a foot taller since the break which is always a shock to the system, but all of them are ready to play and can’t wait to get out under lights.
“We will emulate what we did last year, just going out there and playing as a team, not relying on any one individual to have a match winning outing, but all of us chipping in our respective duties.
“And obviously our plan this season is do defend the trophy and gop back-to-back.”
Waratah Cricket Club
Finish last season: Runner-up
Captain: Melissa ‘Shorty’ Campbell
Captain’s comments: “We want the premiership back off Tracy Village.
“Unfortunately for us, we lost to them last year, and so our goal is to get it back.
“We’ve had a relatively quiet off season, but we have recruited a few new names to the side.
“A big name for us is Lilly Linden, who just moved up from Victoria.
“She’s one of the first FIFO players like how footy does it, so we are excited to see how that plays out.
“Also got a new handy leggy Chelsea who’s played in Brissy. She’ll be great for us and there haven’t been too many high quality leggy’s of late so we’re excited to have her.
“One junior to keep your eye on is Abbey Warton, she’s an absolute weapon, and a fantastic bowler.”
MEN
Darwin Cricket Club
Finish last season: Runner-up
Ins: Mitch Jamieson (Opener, Footscray CC), Aiden Brasher (Fast Bowl, Footscray CC), Smit Raval (Leg Spin, Blacktown Mounties CC, NSW Shield Squad)
Outs: Anthony Adlam, Druv Kant, Matt Calder, Blake Couburn, Matt Hammond
The Eagles have been the ‘nearly’ men in recent years and will be hungry to finally overturn recent history and claim the top spot for themselves.
Darwin has a new leadership team with Darren Truemer taking over as coach while Dan Kerber replaces Matt Hammond as captain.
There’s also a change in the batting department with Anthony Adlam and Matthew Calder out, opening up spots for Jacob Dickman and import Mitch Jamieson to step into.
However change can be a positive and with the likes of club juniors Ralph Stephens, Lachlan Henry and Max Menzies all pushing for senior honours, there’s plenty of talent coming through.
The Territory’s best junior product in recent years, Tom Menzies will likely return in the back end of the season following his current stint playing in England.
“We’ve had great numbers at training, probably the most we’ve had in years, and there’s a real competitive atmosphere so it’s been awesome,” Kerber said.
“Everyone’s looking forward to getting back on the park, and our success will be a byproduct of all the work we’ve put in the preseason and during the week.
“We’re really excited to see our new guys get out there, they’ve just come up here and have already mixed really well with the lads and been a great fit.
“We just need to focus on the basics, keep it simple, have fun and keep continually getting better, if we work as a group and gel together the rest is going to take care of itself.”
Nightcliff Cricket Club
Finish last season: 3rd
Ins: Zac Honeybrook (Fast, Hawkesbury CC), Tyler Van Luin (All Rounder, Queanbeyan District CC)
Outs: Caelan Malady, Hanno Jacobs, Josh Brown
The young Nightcliff outfit were in some respects the surprise package of 2023, and despite their campaign coming to an end in the semis they are brimming with confidence this season.
Those young players such as captain Michael Kudra, Charlie Smith and Jai Allman, among others, have their eyes on a first premiership since 2010.
Prolific batters Douwtjie Hoogenboezem, James Doherty and Connor Carroll will also return to bolster a side intent on out-batting every opposition.
Add in a few youngsters coming through the ranks such as Nicholas Flemming and James Hatton and this is a dangerous outfit.
“We have a very similar group to last year, which is going to work very well for us and the team is shaping up quite nicely,” Kudra said.
“At the start of last year if you had told me we were playing finals I would have been very surprised. Everyone is a year older now and I don’t see any reason why we can’t go further with it.
“There’s a lot of confidence in this side, I don’t play cricket to lose and we want to take it all.
“Batting is going to be our big strength this year, we bat very deep and that’s going to be the plan to out bat our opposition and defend whatever total we put on the board.”
Palmerston Cricket Club
Finish last season: 5th
Ins: Jack Matchett (Top Order, Kensington CC), Matt Scoble (Fast/Med Bowl, Wellington NZ), Caleb Montague (WK, Wellington NZ), Rommel Shazad (Right Arm Off Spin, Vic Country), Jasper Darley (Quick, SA)
Outs: Not yet announced.
Palmerston are focused on making finals after a couple of years on the outside and a renewed connection with New Zealand may be their way back in.
Matt Scoble and Caleb Montague are two key inclusions from across the ditch who have come to enjoy the Palmerston lifestyle and restore the Power to the upper echelons of the competition.
Young guns such as Cadell McMahon and Tahj Hill are two to look out for getting senior experience, and they will compliment Tom McGann and Jack Freeman in the runs department.
Captain Hamish Martin said he was confident his group would be the best it has been in some time and eager to push to the top.
“Pre-season has been restricted as it has been with most clubs with the weather, but we’ve done our best getting on the park,” Martin said.
“We’ve had a good couple of weeks, the fellas from down south are up here primed and ready and we’re looking forward to what will be a hopeful year.
“Our new players, including a few from New Zealand where we have a good connection, have all fit in really well and filled in the spots that we’ve been missing.
“There is a confidence and a definite expectation, we’ve finished fifth the past three years getting pipped in the last couple of rounds.
“But we have the right list and have the expectation of going to finals, we’ll be the strongest we have been in a while.”
PINT Cricket Club
Finish last season: 6th
Ins: Prasanna Ketheeshwaran (Top Order, Essendon CC), Brad Ilott (Off Spin, Ashgrove CC), Hassan Sardar (Leg Spin, Toombul CC), Connor Poulton (WK, Essendon CC)
Outs: Jet Liebke
PINT have lost the batting prowess of Jet Liebke, but they’ve made plenty of key recruitments to overcome the loss of the man who averaged 45 last season.
Captain Farzan Chowna averaged 37.89 runs last season and the inclusion of top order bat Prasanna Ketheeshwaran should help add steel at the top of the order.
Mitch Doolan is another returner for the Greens having proven himself with bat and ball last season and will be crucial if this side is to return to the glory days of a decade ago.
“We will be very competitive, we’ve got some good imports coming in and our local players have been training hard all wet season,” Chowna said.
“Our batting is strong and where our strength will be, we’ve got some good import batters who have been performing well back at their homes so we will be alright there.
“We’ve identified the areas we need to improve on from last season and where we lost a lot of our games, and we’ve recruited for that.
“The local players have been working hard to improve as well so hopefully it comes along better this year so we should be competitive, particularly with the premiers Districts in Round 1, see if we can cause an upset there.”
Southern Districts Cricket Club
Finish last season: Premiers
Ins: Lachlan Bangs (Opener, Ringwood CC), Dean Fry (Top Order, Metropolitan-Easts CC), Matt Hammond (Darwin CC), Jason McKay (Tracy Village), Nick Broes (ACT)
Outs: Josh Kann, Lochie Hardie, Tom Jackson
Southern Districts have undoubtedly been the dominant side across the past five seasons, winning four premierships in that time.
The Crocs didn’t have a premiership to their name until 2019, but other than 2020 they’ve swept the two day competition and have a chance to make it four in a row.
Captain Tim Garner and coach Tony Judd have helped lead the side to success, with their core group including the likes of the returning Dean Fry, Matt Hammond and Andrew Bourne.
Dylan Mullen proved how dangerous he can be with bat and ball in 2023 scoring 478 runs and 29 wickets to help the side to a premiership.
He will be aided by the likes of Fry, Hammond and imports Jackson Isakka, Lachlan Bangs into what could be another successful season of cricket.
“The preseason has been really good, we’ve had a lot of numbers and plenty of young kids coming through who are now at the age where they can play senior cricket,” Bourne said.
“Our recent success has been great, everyone loves winning, but it’s the result of our club culture and the work that goes into it from volunteers and our core group of players.
“We’ve been really fortunate with our imports in recent years, but while we’re a little lighter on we do have Isakka back in and we’ve got a few blokes from Country Victoria.
“When you’ve played in past four grand finals the expectation is that we’re there or there abouts at the end of the season.
“But the focus is that we enjoy the cricket, make sure the club is strong and then from there the results look after themselves.”
Tracy Village Cricket Club
Finish last season: 7th
Ins: Anushka Tiwary (Opener/Off Spin, Weston Creek Molonglo), Arjun Sehrawat (Middle Order/Leg Spin, Geelong CC), Tom Campbell (Wicket Keeper)
Outs: Reggie Els, Vincent Huf, Max Hatzoglou
There’s a new feel at Tracy Village ahead of the 2024 season with new faces at captain and coach, with Max Hatzoglou not returning for the year.
But the side has worked hard on the recruitment side of things picking up newcomer Jack Doyle at captain and talented players such as Arjun Sehrawat and Anushka Tiwary.
They’re a side who know they’re the underdogs going into the year following some disappointing seasons, but this is the competition’s most successful club and won’t be kept down forever.
“Pre-season has been really good, we’ve got a new coach, a young group of lads all buying into the culture and looking forward to the season,” Doyle said.
“I moved up here six months ago from Brisbane and have slotted right in at Tracy Village, I’m loving it here.
“Everyone’s buying into what we’re about off the field as much as on the field, we want to position ourselves as a club of example, not of opinion, and lead the way in that space.
“There has been a lot of change and has gone down well for us, everyone is understanding of the road we’re on and the journey we need to take to get to where we want to.
“We’re the underdogs and have been written off by a few, but we’re happy to try and rumble the giants and turn the tables on a few sides.”
Waratah Cricket Club
Finish last season: 4th
Ins: Ashley Chandrasinghe (Opener, Casey South Melbourne), Dave Dubey (Batting-Allrounder, Australian National Uni. CC), Aryan Jain (Opener, South Brisbane CC)
Outs: Jason Sangha, Ryan Hackney
Waratah are the most recent two-day premiers not named Southern Districts, having won in 2020, and their consistency should see them remain near the top of the league.
A recent merger with University has seen the club numbers sky rocket and the competition for spots increase, and that should only boost the club’s credentials across the grades.
The red and whites are down star bats Ryan Hackney and Jason Sangha, but have prolific scorer Ashley Chandrasinghe coming back midway through the year.
Jagadeswara Koduru comes in as the captain for season 2024 and brings a ton of experience, while Udara Weerasinghe and Madura Weerasinghe will lead the way in the spin bowling department.
Young guns such as Archie McCormick will also get plenty to do throughout the year and be looked to for a strong season.
“Preseason has been really good for us, been different having merged with Uni so we’ve got a lot of players and busy nets, which has been great for us,” McCormick said.
“The merge has brought us plenty of new players, lots of energy and also an extra competitiveness with players fighting for spots.
“Our recent strong performances has been down to us having a combination of good local players like Udara and Madura, and some really classy imports that set the standard for the club.
“We will continue to do what we’ve been doing in recent years, fight for finals across the board and we’re very eager to bring the T20 comp back to Gardens Oval.
“Our two main strengths have been our top order batting and our spin bowling, and they’re what we will look to again.”
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Originally published as Everything you need to know for the 2024 Darwin and District Cricket Competition
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